The Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) 2006 Census Social Atlas Series was launched by the Assistant Treasurer, the Hon. Chris Bowen MP, in a ceremony earlier today at Parliament House, Canberra.

At the launch, the Minister said that "Information from the Census helps us to plan for and build a greater Australia", and that Social Atlases were "easy to understand with thematic maps and accompanying commentary including key social, demographic and housing characteristics."

The Australian Statistician, Brian Pink, continued by saying that "The Social Atlas Series is just one resource the ABS delivers to assist Australia in making informed decisions and that visibility and accessibility of statistics is something I see as very important."

"The ABS is taking a leading role in developing a strong National Statistical Service and engagement, collaboration and coordination with the broad range of producers of official statistics are the keys to it's success," Brian Pink said.

The Social Atlas complements the products that are made available on the ABS website by providing an at-a-glance view of the major characteristics of all Australian capital city areas, and (for the first time) selected regional centres, providing a visually informative alternative to traditional tables and statistical spreadsheets.

The Social Atlas' use of easy to read thematic maps of capital cities, featuring new analysis of 2006 Census data, makes data easier to interpret and provides the groundwork for a wide variety of stories on current and emerging issues. A wide range of topics are covered relating to: population, cultural diversity, work, housing, families, education and training and economic resources.

For more details and to download information free of charge, visit the ABS website on < www.abs.gov.au > and look under product releases, or click onto the Social Atlas icon on the right of the page.

2/ Social Atlas snapshot: Note: Percentages have been rounded.

Sydney

Newcastle & Central Coast

Wollongong

Highest proportion of overseas born - 37%.
People 75 years and over - 9% of the population.
20% aged 0-14 years and 7% 75 years and over

Perth-Mandurah

Greater BunburyKalgoorlie/Boulder

Highest proportion of dwellings being purchased (paying a mortgage) - 40% (up from 36% in 2001).
16% aged 60 years and over.
Median gross weekly income $1,518, higher than for Perth-Mandurah($1,075)

Melbourne

Geelong

29% of the labour force had university qualifications - up from 24% in 2001
Lowest proportion of rented dwellings - 27%
49% of labour force comprises people with Certificate 111 or higher qualifications, an increase from 42% in 2001

Hobart

Greater Launceston

Burnie-Devonport

Highest proportion of people who needed assistance - (6%).

6% of population were young children aged 0-4 years
Population usually resident was 77,410 - 16% of the total population of Tasmania.

Brisbane

Gold Coast

Sunshine Coast

Lowest lone person households - (23%) 20% of residents 15 and over undertook some unpaid voluntary work in the twelve months prior to the 2006 Census.
Homes being purchased (paying a mortgage) increased from 24% in 2001 to 33% in 2006
9% were people 75 years and over, well above all the capital cities

Darwin and Palmerston

Alice Springs

Litchfield Shire

Lowest proportion of people 75 and over (2%). Highest proportion (8%) of children 0-4.
Indigenous Australians 11% of the total population, highest of all capital cities.
4,494 Indigenous Australians - 29% of the total population.
Children 0-4 fell from 7% in 2001 to 6% in 2006. Nearly 25% of people were 5-18

Adelaide

Mount Gambier

Highest proportion of people 75 and over (8%) and lowest proportion of children 0-4 (6%).
Lowest proportion of occupied private dwellings with broadband Internet access (33%).
Labour force comprised 19% of people with Cert 111 quals, up from 17% in 2001.Over 30% of all households occupied by a lone occupant.

Canberra-Queanbeyan

Highest proportion of people in the labour force with university qualifications (36%)
Just under two-thirds of the employed population living in Queanbeyan worked in the ACT at the time of the Census.